# Biomechanical mapping of the optic nerve head and peripapillary sclera using high frequency ultrasonic elastography

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA · 2024 · $616,141

## Abstract

Project Summary
Glaucoma is a leading cause of irreversible blindness worldwide, affecting over 2.2 million Americans. With an
aging population, it is estimated that by 2020 the number of people suffering from glaucoma will reach 80 million
worldwide, with 11 million being bilaterally blind. Although elevated intraocular pressure (IOP) is the primary risk
factor for the development of glaucomatous optic nerve damage , the mechanisms by which elevated IOP
eventually leads to damage are still unclear. Thus, there is a need to develop novel non-invasive imaging
modalities that can measure the fundamental mechanical properties of the posterior sclera, and characterize
how they contribute to damage in patients particularly as it relates to age, race, and severity of glaucomatous
damage. Such a tool would be an important step forward in ocular research and clinical practice, providing the
much-needed ability to evaluate the risk of disease based on person- and eye-specific characteristics.
The goal of this study is to develop a novel high-resolution ultrasound-based imaging platform non-invasively
measure biomechanical properties of the posterior sclera. To address this goal, we propose two imaging systems
utilizing dual frequency configuration. One system consists of a low-frequency (4.5 MHz) ring shape transducer
to “push” the tissue, and a needle single element transducer inside to “track” micron-level displacement; Another
system is to replace the needle transducer with a high-frequency single crystal linear phased array as receiver
for elastography imaging to first acquire real time and high speed elastography imaging of the posterior sclera.
2D/3D acoustic radiation force impulse (ARFI) imaging and shear wave elasticity imaging (SWEI) will be
performed on ex-vivo unscaled rabbit sclera that will be preloaded with various IOP levels for evaluation. Our
preliminary results have demonstrated the principle of using the dual frequency ultrasonic elastography
technique on obtaining the biomechanical properties of the sclera and cornea. Integrating high-resolution ARFI
imaging with quantified tissue stiffness measurements via the propagation speed of the associated shear wave
can potentially allow us to characterize in detail the association between age and gender on the mechanical
properties of the sclera and allow us to explore the relationship with glaucoma

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10749877
- **Project number:** 5R01EY032229-04
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
- **Principal Investigator:** Qifa Zhou
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $616,141
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2021-03-01 → 2026-11-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10749877

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10749877, Biomechanical mapping of the optic nerve head and peripapillary sclera using high frequency ultrasonic elastography (5R01EY032229-04). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10749877. Licensed CC0.

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